1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game and/or sport of paintball conducted in low light or dark conditions (“night paintball”) and more particularly, to a device that illuminates a luminescent paintball before being projected from a paintball “gun” thereby allowing a contest without illuminating the field of play that the players are competing upon.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Paintball is a fast growing game played mainly outdoors during daylight hours upon large areas of natural terrain or indoors upon artificial terrain. The object of the game is to strike an opposing player (commonly identified via an armband with corresponding markings) with a paintball projected from a specially designed “gun.” The paintball includes a soft outer shell that collapses upon striking a targeted player thereby releasing an internal fluid or paint that adheres to and identifies the player as being “hit” which relegates him to observer status in a neutral zone for the remainder of the game.
To identify a player as being hit during a low light or night paintball game, the paint must be luminescent or capable of “glowing in the dark” for a predetermined period of time after the paintball strikes the targeted player thereby marking him or her. Further, the “glow” must cease in a relatively short period of time to prevent “hits” from being counted by a referee during a subsequent paintball game. The glowing paintball provides a visual display similar to tracer bullets shot from a gun during a firefight thereby enhancing the entertainment, visual, safety, accuracy and fair play aspects of night paintball.
Prior methods of charging luminescent paintballs have used a relatively large ultraviolet light (black light) in close proximity to a plurality of paintballs prior to being placed into a hopper or container to be ultimately used with a paintball gun on a field of play. The problem with this method is that relatively long periods of time are required to adequately “charge” the light “absorbing” particles throughout the luminescent paintballs to thereby cause the paintballs to glow sufficiently. Another problem with the method is that the light intensity of the charged paintballs start attenuating immediately upon being removed from the black light, resulting in the paintball being barely visible in flight when loaded and “shot” from a projecting mechanism (paintball gun). Yet another problem with this method is a relatively long time delay between the paintball's exposure to the ultraviolet light and the projection of the paintball from the gun. This time delay causes the glow to dissipate such that the luminescent paint is not visible when splattered upon an opposing player.
Another prior method of charging luminescent paintballs is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,349 wherein a high voltage element is utilized to power a flash tube which is triggered to activate a phosphorescent ball as the ball is discharged through a tube in the paintball gun. The problem with this device is that expensive, complex and relatively fragile electronic and potentially dangerous power circuits are used to control and power a multitude of components that illuminate the phosphorescent balls.
A need exists for a mechanically rugged charging device and/or method that inexpensively and safely charges a phosphorescent paintball while the ball is stored in a portion of a paintball gun disassociated with the gun's discharge mechanism. Also, the device and/or method may include components that de-energize ultraviolet lighting that may be exposed to the human eye when a participant places paintballs in a hopper portion of a paintball gun. Further, the device and/or method must sufficiently charge the paintball such that upon being “shot” from the gun, the paintball will provide a luminous trail until engaging a target, whereupon the luminescent paint will continue to emit a luminous pattern for a predetermined time after being disposed upon the target surface.